Guide · Google Ads

Google Local Services Ads,
the Canadian version.

Local Services Ads are the listings with a verification badge that sit above the regular results when someone searches for a plumber or an electrician. You pay per lead rather than per click. In Canada they are open to a short list of home service trades, and the badge system changed in 2025.

Published 2026-09-21 · Formory Group

The short answer.

If you are in one of the listed home service categories, answer your phone, and already have reviews, Local Services Ads are worth testing. If you are a lawyer, accountant, dentist or clinic in Ontario, they are not currently offered to you in Canada, whatever you may have read about the US version.

Everything below is from Google's own Local Services help pages as of September 2026. Google changes this product often, so check the pages linked before you sign anything.

Who can use them in Canada.

Google's Canadian getting-started page lists 16 categories: appliance repair, carpet cleaning, cleaning services, electricians, HVAC, junk removal, lawn care, locksmiths, movers, pest control, plumbers, roofers, tree services, water damage, window cleaning, and window repair.

Availability also depends on where you work. Google does not publish a list of Canadian cities on that page; it points you to an eligibility check that takes your business category and location. Run that check for your own postal code rather than assuming Toronto coverage means Barrie or Milton coverage.

Renovation contractors, painters and landscapers who are not also lawn care will notice they are missing. So are professional categories such as lawyers, which Google runs in some other countries.

Google Screened and Google Guaranteed are gone.

Older articles talk about the green Google Guaranteed tick and the Google Screened badge. Google has replaced them with a single Google Verified badge. Existing advertisers moved across automatically, and new advertisers get it by completing screening and verification.

The Money Back Guarantee that came with Google Guaranteed has been discontinued. Google accepted reimbursement claims only until December 7, 2025. If a salesperson or a competitor's page still promises customers a Google-backed guarantee, that is out of date.

Google also offers pre-badge ads: once you pass the preliminary checks you can start getting leads while the remaining checks are finished, but you are placed below providers who have the badge. Pre-badge ads are not available for locksmiths, garage door services or health care categories.

What verification involves.

Google's Canadian screening requirements start with a public, verified Google Business Profile. Without one you cannot advertise at all. Our Google Business Profile setup guide covers that step.

After that, depending on your category and province, Google may ask for business and owner background checks, business registration, provincial licences where the trade requires them, and proof of insurance, generally general and professional liability coverage.

Electricians, HVAC, plumbers, locksmiths and garage door companies are treated as urgent categories and also need background checks on the service professionals who go into homes. Garage door and locksmith businesses go through an additional advanced verification.

Google says the process takes 3 to 4 weeks on average after you submit your documents. Google also lists reviews among the requirements for some categories.

How you pay.

You pay for leads, not clicks. Google's page on leads lists what counts: a message or email from a customer, a phone call you answer, a voicemail, a missed call you return and connect on, and a booking request. Booking and message leads are available in the US and Canada.

You set an average weekly budget. You can go over it in a given week, but not over a monthly maximum worked out from the weekly figure. Once that monthly maximum is reached, your ad stops showing until the next month or until you raise the budget.

Lead prices are not published. Google says they vary by location, job type, lead type and bidding mode. You choose between letting Google maximize leads for your budget, setting a target cost per lead, or setting a manual maximum per lead.

Leads Google judges invalid are not charged, and charged leads can be credited later if its models decide they were low quality. Read the list of leads that will not be credited, though: calls outside your stated hours, customers asking for advice or researching prices, and customers who never answer your callback are all on it.

What decides who shows first.

Google's ranking page says it runs an auction that weighs your bid against how likely you are to produce a lead. Responsiveness matters, and missed calls count against you. So do your rating, number of reviews, response time, photos and completed verification checks.

That tells you when this is not for you. If you are on roofs all day and the phone goes to a voicemail you check at night, you will pay for leads, lose ranking for missed calls, and hand the job to whoever answered. Turning on message leads helps, but only if someone reads them.

Two smaller points from the same pages. If you have several locations serving the same area, only your highest-ranking ad shows for a given search. And billing runs through Google Ads, so a suspension of your Google Ads account also suspends your Local Services Ads.

Where your website fits.

Local Services Ads do not need a website to run, and that is part of the appeal. But a customer who wants to check you before calling has two places to look: your Google profile and your site. A site that confirms your licence, insurance, service area and prices in plain language supports the badge rather than contradicting it.

If you are weighing this against regular search ads, our Google Ads service page covers the pay-per-click side, and ranking in the map pack covers the free map listings.

Sources.

Asked often.

Can lawyers or dentists use Local Services Ads in Canada?

Not as of September 2026. Google's Canadian page lists only 16 home service categories.

Is there still a Google Guarantee?

No. Google replaced Google Guaranteed and Google Screened with a single Google Verified badge and discontinued the Money Back Guarantee, with claims accepted until December 7, 2025.

How much does a lead cost?

Google does not publish lead prices. It says they vary by location, job type, lead type and bidding mode, and you control spend through a weekly budget and your bid setting.

Do I need a Google Business Profile?

Yes. Google requires a public, verified Business Profile before you can advertise with Local Services Ads.

Your turn

Same check,
run on your site.

The check behind this page is the one we ran on every business above. Put your own address in and it will load your site on a phone screen, look at the certificate and the page age, and tell you what a visitor meets. No email, nothing stored.

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Google Local Services Ads,the Canadian version.